Caves
by Briar Rose
Summary: A coda to 'Body and Soul'. Tom and B'Elanna have a conversation about Tuvok and holographic wives.


  
Title: Caves  
Author: Briar Rose  
Email: boo.roo@sympatico.ca  
Rating: PG-13 for mild references to sex and a few swear words.  
Part: 1/1  
  
Synopsis: This is a coda to 'Body and Soul', inspired by a short   
Conversation between Tom and Tuvok. Contains spoilers for 'Blood Fever',   
'Displaced', 'Investigations' and 'Faces', if you haven't seen them, you won't   
understand the story. I take Jeri Taylor's book 'Pathways' as canon. They are   
her babies, after all. It is written as a dialogue only story. If this   
annoys you, don't read it.  
  
Disclaimer: Viacom/Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I have   
only borrowed the characters of Tom and B'Elanna for fun, not profit.  
  
Posting: To the PTCA and FanFiction.net only, all other interested parties, please ask first.  
  
Date: November 2000.  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"What the Hell are you doing? I've been waiting for you for   
twenty minutes."  
  
"B'Elanna, I, uh ..didn't see you come in."  
  
"Obviously. What is that? What are you working on, a new   
'girlfriend' for Harry?"  
  
"Not exactly ..B'Elanna! Just stay over there, I'll just shut this   
down for tonight."  
  
"And where are we anyway, these rocks look awfully familiar. Tom!   
Is this where I think it is?"  
  
"Maybe, ..where do you think you are?"  
  
"Sakari."  
  
"I thought you told me you didn't remember much about Sakari."  
  
"I lied. What the Hell are you doing?!"  
  
"Well I was talking to Tuvok the other day, and I started   
thinking-"  
  
"Talking about what? I thought Tuvok was out with the Tarkalian   
flu. Why were you talking about Sakari? Oh ..that kind of flu?"  
  
"I really can't discuss it B'Elanna. You know, doctor/patient   
confidentiality."  
  
"You're not a doctor Tom."  
  
"I like playing doctor, especially with you."  
  
"Very funny, what were you discussing with Tuvok that included   
Sakari IV and a hologram of me?"  
  
"Well, we were discussing a treatment for his ..flu -"  
  
"..ummm hummm ..go on."  
  
"And I thought he might be able to use a hologram -"  
  
"OF ME?!"  
  
"Of course not, B'Elanna! Will you let me finish -"  
  
"I wouldn't dream of stopping you now."  
  
"As I was saying, I thought a hologram of his wife might help him   
with his problem. Then I started thinking about MY wife, and   
holograms .."  
  
"A -"  
  
"And I figured it wasn't really cheating if the hologram looked   
like your wife."  
  
"And you figured I would go for -"  
  
"No, B'Elanna. I wasn't thinking THAT ..well, maybe I was thinking   
it a little ..but I would NEVER ask you to do anything like that.   
Unless you wanted to?"  
  
"Are you familiar with the term 'thin ice', Paris?"  
  
"Yeah, I didn't think so."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"I just said that one of you is about all I can handle anyway.   
Definitely, one of you is enough, more than enough."  
  
"Oh, really? So why Sakari?"  
  
"Because turning you down then was the biggest mistake I ever   
made."  
  
"Really, the biggest?"  
  
"Umm humm, and I've made quite a few."  
  
"Yes, I seem to remember hearing something about that. So, you   
were hoping to rewrite history, hum? Why?"  
  
"Well, if I'd made love to you then, like I wanted to, we would   
have had another year together."  
  
"What makes you think I'd have had anything to do with you   
afterwards, Tom?"  
  
"Oh, you wouldn't have had any say in the matter, we'd have been   
mates. I could have moved in with you, claimed my 'spousal   
rights' and beaten the crap out of Vorik myself."  
  
"What if I called on Chakotay to beat the crap out of YOU."  
  
"He'd never do it, he's a pacifist at heart."  
  
"Ayala would have."  
  
"He still might. There's a reason why I never spar with him in   
the gym."  
  
"Mmmmm ..well, if I looked like that on Sakari, it's no wonder you   
turned me down."  
  
"B'Elanna ..you have never looked more beautiful to me than you   
did on Sakari."  
  
"Really, never?"  
  
"Well ..almost never. I fell in love with you in a cave you   
know."  
  
"Yeah, I bet I can guess which one, too."  
  
"I bet you can't. It was not on Sakari."  
  
"On the Nyrian habitat ship?"  
  
"No, keep guessing."  
  
"Tom ..why don't you just tell me? Oh, all right ..not in those   
Vidiian mines? I thought you liked my Klingon side."  
  
"B'Elanna, I'm enthralled by your Klingon side, and your human   
side and your whole gorgeous self. But no, I did not fall in love   
with you in the Vidiian mines. Don't get me wrong, you were   
lovely all human. In a kid sister, girl next door sort of way. And you were   
mind blowing all Klingon, in a sexy, scary sort of way."  
  
"Scary, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, and you still have your moments."  
  
"It's nice to know I haven't lost my touch."  
  
"I love your touch B'Elanna. Keep guessing."  
  
"Well, unless your memory is better than mine, I've run out of   
caves. Give me a hint."  
  
"We were laid over for repairs. You threw a laser wrench at my   
head and ordered me out of your engine room."  
  
"You fell in love with me because I threw something at your head?"  
  
"No, I fell in love with you because you aimed to miss. I had no   
doubt you could have clocked me if you'd wanted to. And because   
you really are beautiful when you're angry."  
  
"Wait a minute, we don't use laser wrenches on Voyager."  
  
"I didn't say we were on Voyager. I fell in love with you while   
we were still on the Liberty."  
  
"Yeah, right! You expect me to believe you've carried a torch for   
me for eight years?"  
  
"No, no. I didn't realize I loved you until much later ..you were   
sitting in the mess hall with Harry. You had your heads together   
over a padd, working on some sort of engineering problem, as   
usual. Just when I got to your table you looked at him and smiled   
and, ..God, how I wanted you to smile at me like that. Then you   
did. I have no idea what you said to me. You were going on and   
on about whatever you two had just figured out and all I could   
focus on was how beautiful you looked with the starlight in your   
hair."  
  
"Starlight?"  
  
"You were sitting by the window."  
  
"Oh. So why didn't you tell me then?"  
  
"Well, I was busy. I had Chakotay to piss off and a spy to catch.   
I had packing to do. It hurt that you didn't even come to say   
goodbye."  
  
"I didn't want you to go. I guess I figured if I didn't see you   
leave I could pretend you weren't gone."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere, you know."  
  
"Yeah, I know. It's a good thing too. I'd hate to have to track   
you down and kill you. Klingon males aren't allowed to leave.   
Klingon females, on the other hand, can divorce their mates as   
easily as spitting on them."  
  
"Spitting?"  
  
"Umm hummm."  
  
"Really, spitting?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I guess I'll just have to make sure you want me to stick around."  
  
"I wouldn't worry about that for now. Come on, Tom, let's go home.   
I'm not tired yet."  
  
"Me neither. Computer, delete character."  
  
"Computer, save program."  
  
"You want to save the caves?"  
  
"Most definitely."  
  
"But not the character?"  
  
"Most definitely!"  
  
"Oh, well, I had to ask."  
  
"Wait a minute! How were we in a cave on the Liberty?"  
  
"I guess technically it wasn't a cave. We were hiding in an   
asteroid belt."  
  
"An asteroid belt is not a cave, Tom."  
  
"We were surrounded by rock."  
  
"Rocks."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
  
  
  
Fin.  
  
  
  
  
Feedback, especially help with formatting errors, will be warmly received.  
  



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